Masks--A Review

Evangeline Anderson's short novel Masks first caught my attention because it was a free download from Amazon, and it hinted at D/s.

Brief Plot Synopsis:  Zoe is a ProDomme with a twisted ankle, so she asks her shy, retiring, school-teacher twin, Chloe, to stand in for her.  Zoe has been keeping secrets about her true Dominant nature (and job) and must nearly twist Chloe's arm to get her to stand in for her.  There are three rules Chloe must abide by, however:  1) don't lose control, 2) don't have sex with the client, and 3) NEVER take off the mask.

The meat of the review:  Chloe, of course, manages to BREAK all three rules.  She DOES lose control, and her "client," Mark, easily gains the upper hand.  She DOES have sex with the client, who turns out to be not only dominant and rather vanilla, but is also quite gentle.  He requests that she take off her mask, which she eventually does.  Mark takes off his mask, too, and that is where the story truly takes an interesting turn.

Problems with the plot:  Right off the bat--no professional Dominatrix would EVER request someone stand in for her.  She'd just call her client and cancel.  She also certainly would NOT request that her stand-in be someone who is COMPLETELY FOREIGN to the BDSM community, even IF aforementioned stand-in were here identical twin sister.  REAL PRO DOMMES DO NOT HAVE SEX WITH THE CLIENT ANYWAY!  This later plays itself out in the end of the story, in which Zoe, dressed as her sister, must substitute for Chloe as the teacher of her first-grade class so Mark can speak with her.  I have problems with this, too.  I am an educator out there in the vanilla world.  You can't be a Domme with first graders, parents will call by day's end and demand your firing at the least, see you in court and push for hard-core jail time at the most.  First graders don't require a Domme/Dom, they require gentle guidance, a firm but loving voice, and lots of patience.  LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of patience.  Oh, and a tolerance for accidental bodily fluids (hey--if a first grader says, "I have to go to the bathroom," LET THEM GO!  Unless you have a thing for the smell of urine, chances are good the rest of the kids in that class DO NOT!  LET THEM GO!).  Chloe seems the stereotypical stick-in-the-mud schoolmarm with zero sense of humor and outdated moral hang-ups about sex.  Zoe seems way more fun and authentic, even if she is just a cookie-cutter.

I'd only read this if it was free.  The sex is steamy but gentle, and really, really vanilla.  Mark slips up by stating Chloe's name after sex (she never did formally introduce herself by her name, merely as Mistress Sensua) and he later really messes things up by saying, "I'm hungry.  Let's see what your sister has to eat around here."  If you'd like to find out why Chloe reacts with shock and horror and goes from cuddly satisfied Woman to Bitch in .03 seconds, I'd suggest you download and read the book by clicking here.